12 July 2020: Expanding Calls for Independent Investigation of Nursing Home Deaths

Nurses Association joins growing calls for independent nursing home investigation

This report indicates the backlash against New York's Department of Health's attempted whitewash of its role in contributing to nursing home coronavirus deaths is growing. The New York State Nurses Association is a union that has previously endorsed Governor Cuomo's reelection in 2018, but is now citing deficiencies in the DOH's report and calling for an independent investigation of the governor's administration:

On July 6, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) released a report entitled Factors Associated with Nursing Home Infections and Fatalities in New York State During the COVID-19 Global Health Crisis.

This report’s primary conclusion is that “…nursing home workers transmitted the virus unknowingly — through no fault of their own — while working, which then led to resident infections.” This statement does not reflect the experiences of frontline nurses of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) who throughout were pointing at critical shortages of personal protective equipment and calling for widespread testing in order to guide New York’s response to the virus since the onset of this pandemic....

New Yorkers deserve a full accounting of what happened over the past four months, and the NYSDOH nursing home report, unfortunately, does not move us forward. The need is plain for a comprehensive, independent review of nursing home practices, the role of for-profit operators, and NYSDOH oversight.

The nurses union's statement regarding the state's inadequate response to shortages in the supply of personal protective equipment in New York's nursing homes and other assisted care facilities is backed by contemporary reporting from 22 April 2020, 23 April 2020, 26 April 2020, 5 May 2020, and 14 June 2020.